


Full Circle

by MultiWriteMiss



Category: K-pop, Super Junior
Genre: Other, Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Heavenly Virtues, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-01-04 09:27:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12166158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MultiWriteMiss/pseuds/MultiWriteMiss
Summary: The Original Sin is destroyed, and the fourteen Cardinal Crystals have been scattered. To restore the Original Sin the crystals must be reunited...and someone must die.





	1. A Bit More Than An Inquiry

**Author's Note:**

> The tags will change as new characters are introduced, so please keep an eye on them! :3

Rationing their supplies was only going to buy them finite time. Every drop was savoured and carefully drained from its holding container; there had nearly been three fights this week because of messes left in the kitchen. If things continued the way they were going, there was going to be a lot more than just fighting happening under that roof. 

Every tome and scroll that Leeteuk had hoarded in his near-five hundred years of existence had been opened and scattered all over his study. Pages upon pages of scrawled notes filled the gaps between the texts, many of them smudged with pen ink from one too many excessively gripped pens. Pieces of plastic and pen nibs completed the decoration of the proverbial academic cake. 

“Argh…” Sinking down into the ornate desk chair, Leeteuk brushed a few strands of his hair from his creased forehead. The frown on his face wasn’t going to go away any time soon. All of his research talked about was how reversion to animalistic urges wasn’t uncommon for his kind; their Sin Lord was Beezlebub, the Lord of Gluttony, after all. In relation to Leeteuk’s current dilemma, the only things he could find about their legendary creator spoke various stories of their creation legend - hungry for power, a group of humans beseeched the Lord of Gluttony for something that would help them overcome their enemies. He demanded them show him how much they wanted the power he had to offer. One of the humans proved their desire by slitting the throat of the closest human and gorging himself on a portion of the blood that spilled. Beezlebub changed the power he offered, cursing that human to never be full of blood no matter how much he drank, essentially creating the First Vampire. While the creation legend was important to Leeteuk, his coven and all vampiric kind, it really wasn’t explaining the sudden insatiable thirst that he and his coven had suddenly been struck with.

‘Teuk, I’m at your door. You turned on your wards again.’

Heechul’s voice jarred Leeteuk from his thoughts about their creator. He looked over at the closed door to his study and clicked his fingers. Within seconds the door opened and Heechul strode through the opening, stopping short of a thick tome that had various ancient blood magic spells scrawled across its pages. 

“Found anything?” he asked. 

“All I’ve found are links back to our creation legend,” replied Leeteuk, picking up a page of his handwritten notes, “Are the others okay?”

“Kyuhyun’s in temporary lockdown after he attempted to rip Hyukjae’s arm off, Ryeowook is in a state close to hysterics, everyone’s had to lock away their blood because they’ve resorted to thievery, but other than that nobody’s died.” The older vampire nodded absently, eyes flicking over the page he was holding. “You’re planning something, Teuk."  
“I’m planning on going to Unity Temple.” The silence that followed Leeteuk’s words raised two generations of a family before anyone spoke again. 

“Why?” was all Heechul finally managed. 

“We’re all close to ripping each other to pieces over food. I can’t find anything in our lore or legends that could explain what’s happening to us. Attempting to gain an audience with our Sin Lord is my only other considered option,” Leeteuk reasoned in a level voice. He looked up from the page and met Heechul’s eyes for the first time since the younger vampire entered his study, glinting garnet locked onto glinting garnet. 

“...fine.” Heechul was the first to look away, a frown etched into his tidy eyebrows. “I can’t promise everyone will be alive when you come back, though.” Leeteuk managed a small smile and dropped the page he’d been holding. It fluttered down to rest atop the seat of his chair, over a small tear in the velvet fabric. 

“The younger ones are scared of you, did you know that?” said the elder vampire. Heechul choked on air as an effect. “Siwon once told me he thought Satan had been reincarnated as you. Don’t tell him I said that.” A catlike smirk slowly split the younger vampire’s lips. “I mean it. With Ryeowook the way he is right now, I don’t need him worrying over every twitch of your fingers.” 

“He’s too nice to be mean to!” protested Heechul indignantly. 

= = =

After reminding Heechul of his duties and explaining to the rest of the coven the intention for his outing, Leeteuk was sent off into the night with his most recently allocated rations, several words of well-wishes, three tight hugs, and one “Don’t die!” from a slightly hazy Kyuhyun. Leeteuk disapproved of the use of silver-laced cloth restraints around their youngest vampire’s forearms, and he made sure Heechul knew it too before he opened the front door of their house and stepped outside. 

The deep blue sky was mottled with silver dots and streaks of wispy clouds. A strong wind ruffled nearby tree branches and fluttered the hem of Leeteuk’s long white coat. Yes, it was impractical but he loved the colour; he kept the coat under wards in case some of the more playful members of the coven desired to change it. He had barely taken three steps away from the door when he heard it click open and a soft set of footfalls alerted the elder vampire to another presence behind him. 

He turned around. “Kibum?” The younger vampire closed the door with a soft click and faced his coven leader, an unreadable expression on his face. Clamped in his left hand was a small roll of paper tied with a scarlet ribbon. Leeteuk suspected Kibum had drawn one of his foresights; the poor boy had lost all use of words due to a traumatic transition. Everyone believed his foresight was a gift from Beezlebub to compensate for his form of mutism, yet it was rare to be allowed to know about the things he saw. 

Kibum pressed the roll of paper insistently into one of Leeteuk’s hands, an urgent light in his garnet eyes. Leeteuk carefully untied the ribbon and slipped it into his coat pocket for later. He unfurled the roll of paper and raked his eyes over the sharp lines and dark shadows of Kibum’s drawing. It appeared to be a detailed drawing of a building, but the nature of the building was hard to discern; Kibum had shaded a large portion of the drawing. 

“I’ll be careful, Kibum,” said the elder vampire, meeting the younger’s worried eyes. “This is a warning, right?” Kibum nodded. “Then I’ll heed it.” Leeteuk carefully folded the drawing and slipped it into the same pocket as the ribbon. Kibum let out a quiet sigh - Leeteuk wasn’t convinced he was reassured enough - and turned so he could return to the interior of the house. Leeteuk waited for the door to close before muttering “Gula guide me to my destination,” and flickering out of sight. 

= = = 

Much of the lore that surrounded Unity Temple spoke only of its purpose: to house the fourteen Cardinal Crystals and the large Original Sin. Each of the Cardinal Crystals serves as an anchor in this plane - the Null Plane, according to the Sins and Virtues - and they are able to flit between their plane and the Null Plane with relative ease. Unity Temple was designed and built to be a unanimous meeting place for all fourteen corporeal representations of the Sins and Virtues. Leeteuk had only visited the temple once before, during his early days as a young acolyte filled with no other feeling except bloodlust. Those thoughts, Leeteuk decided as he passed the final checkpoint, were for another time. 

Broken stone steps twirled their way up a short but steep hill and through fourteen stone pillars, each of which was carved in runes that spelled out the name of a Sin or Virtue. Leeteuk slowed his pace to a walk and began to slowly ascend these steps, noting idly what appeared to be scraps of metal scattered around the place. Spots of blood were sprinkled over the metal scraps; his nose told him the blood was fresh, three days old at the most. Ripples of an urge spread across his back and chest, but Leeteuk forced them down with his steel will. It wouldn’t do him any good to give into his urges now, of all times. 

At the top of the steps sprawled a pristine stone forum, marred by more blood and metal. The metal had taken the form of heavy weapons such as greataxes and large swords, and the blood seeped from the gaping wounds of several people wrapped in cloth armour. Leeteuk took Kibum’s drawing out of his pocket and examined it, noting the side of the building that had been shaded and the location of the corpses in relation to the nearby building. In the foreground of the drawing was a scene eerily similar to the scene that was laid out in front of him. Had Kibum truly seen such a gruesome sight? Leeteuk repocketed the drawing and picked his way across the forum carefully so as to avoid dragging the hem of his coat through any of the blood on the stone. The temple itself stood out against the torchlit pathway lined with more cloth-armoured corpses. 

“What happened here?” the elder vampire mused aloud. His voice echoed around the silent forum, ricocheting off the stone to sound disembodied and breathy. 

“Is someone there?” Leeteuk wasn’t expecting a reply. He jumped at the response, quickly shaking off his surprise and squaring his body for a fight. His fangs sharpened and a sigil glowed scarlet on the back of his left hand. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” A figure crunched through the broken metal, stone and undergrowth, hands out in surrender. He looked to be no older than eighteen, and wore a white robe trimmed along each sleeve and hem in royal blue velvet. “Lady Chastity bid me wait out here for a pilgrim or someone like that. If I’d have known one of Lord Beezlebub’s children was coming…” He knelt briefly, dusting his robe off once he righted himself. “Lord Beezlebub was starting to wonder if any of his children would solve his cryptic messages.” 

Leeteuk pulled Kibum’s drawing from his pocket again. “I don’t know anything about cryptic messages. I’m here to see His Lordship about my coven’s recent...affliction,” he explained. The robed teen spun on his heel and headed for the large building beyond, Leeteuk quick to follow behind silently. Neither of them spoke another word until they reached the building’s large stone doors, its inlaid woven pattern facing them. Some of the polished marble inlays had been knocked out by slingshots of stones and lay broken and scattered over the landing. More corpses and broken weaponry were piled against the door frame. 

“What happened?” asked the elder vampire.

“We were attacked by a legion of Excommunicated,” replied the robed teen somberly. “They were rallied under a banner unknown to us, and led by a figure in white armour.” He carefully pushed at the heavy doors, and they began to creak open. Leeteuk looked upon Kibum’s drawing again, then looked to the right of the door, where the corpses seemed to be concentrated. 

“Did this legion come from the west?” The robed teen faced the vampire and raised a confused brow, so Leeteuk showed him the drawing. 

“Keep that in your hand. Your lord will need to see that.” With a flick of his robe the teen walked briskly through the open doors, Leeteuk following behind. 

The doors opened into a large antechamber that looked as if any valuables previously in it had been plundered savagely. Stone tables lay in two to four pieces in each corner of the chamber, chairs were of a similar state to the tables, and anything that had been made of cloth or paper had been torn to pieces and scattered over the dark floor. Many of the iron sconces on the walls shone with a dim light to reflect the aftermath of the events that had transpired. Doors leading to smaller chambers had either been broken in or thrown open, the contents of each chamber ransacked and left for someone else to clean up. Leeteuk noted there was a suspicious absence of corpses inside. 

“How did the Excommunicated breach the temple’s wards?” he asked. 

“We’re still askin’ ourselves that question.” The robed teen offered a short bow in the direction of the voice then disappeared, seemingly into one of the many shadows the antechamber offered. 

“Lord Beezlebub…” Leeteuk sank to one knee and bowed his head out of respect to the orange-clad Sin Lord that stood in front of him. Beezlebub flicked a lock of his caramel-dyed hair out of his eyes and gave a mirthless chuckle. 

“‘Bout time someone got me message,” he said. Leeteuk looked up at his kind’s creator. 

“Message, my lord?”

Beezlebub pointed at the now crumpled page in the elder vampire’s hand. “Foresight had to be th’ one, didn’t it? The sudden thirst not enough fer ye to go seekin’ answers?” He graced a smirk on his lips. “Can’t help but admire yeh willpower, though. I first thought me darlin’ counterpart had visited ye.” He made a ‘follow’ gesture, and Leeteuk obeyed. “Dawned on me later that ye were busy keepin’ yer coven in line.” 

“With all due respect, my lord, humans dislike my kind for plenty of reasons beyond unexplainable attacks,” he countered after a while of mulling over his words. “If my coven and I can live alongside humans without creating unnecessary unrest, then we’re doing better than most others.” 

Beezlebub laughed loudly. “Had to go through four other covens before settlin’ with yours, and I get the diligent ones - not you, Diligence, go away.” A pair of pale blue eyes disappeared behind the stone door the pair just passed. “Point is, ye ain’t here because we wanted to see ye. We’ve got a task fer ye.” 

Leeteuk raised an eyebrow. “We?” 

= = =

It was the smell of fresh blood in the resting chamber that Leeteuk noticed first. If he had been alive, he’d have been potentially salivating at the scent that held his nose tightly. Then he took a second whiff of the familiar scent, and flinched visibly; the blood smelled as if it contained every possible nutrient to sustain life, the kind of blood lesser vampires went to war over. Beezlebub stepped further into the chamber he’d led his creation to, saluting casually with two fingers toward a man with purple-tipped black hair and a bedridden woman whose tired, cat green eyes followed his every movement. 

“Everythin’ went well, then?” asked the Lord of Gluttony. 

“As well as can be expected given the circumstances, I suppose,” drawled the other man, “Asmodeus didn’t stay long once the screaming began.” 

“Never could handle somethin’ like this, could she? Though her Sin is the reason we’re ‘ere.” Beezlebub turned his head to the bedridden woman. “How’re you holdin’ up, Levi?” The woman gave a tired smile and indicated the bundle swaddled in soft white. Leeteuk peered over Beezlebub’s shoulder to get a closer look. 

“This is Jungsu, leader o’ the coven that finally got me message,” said the Lord of Gluttony quickly, “I assume ye already know Lucifer and Leviathan?” The elder vampire sank to one knee out of respect for the two other Sin Lords in front of him. 

Lucifer snorted. “At least someone around here observes the proper protocols, unlike those whitewashed bastards who attacked us in our own home.” He allowed an amethyst shimmer to briefly wash over his eyes. “Belphegor is out on border patrol, sweeping the area for any indication as to how the Excommunicated breached our defenses. They haven’t found anything as of yet, and unfortunately I am hard-pressed with other matters to join them.” Leviathan rolled her eyes at Lucifer’s outburst, and indicated with her head for Leeteuk to move closer. He abided. 

“Welcome to Unity Temple, Jungsu. Would you like to hold my daughter?” she asked in a soft voice. Leeteuk swallowed what he suspected to be his nerves at being asked such a task - particularly from a Sin Lord, as well - but he inched closer to Leviathan’s bedside and stuffed Kibum’s drawing into his pocket again. Leviathan waited patiently for him to be ready before gently placing the bundle into his arms. Leeteuk gently hefted the new life in his arms, trembling at how close he was to such an act of creation. The child was thankfully fast asleep, but he could see a tuft of orange hair (much darker than Beezlebub’s highlighter orange shirt) peeking through the top of the swaddling cloth. 

“She’s beautiful, my lady…” The awe of the moment was not lost on the elder vampire, and if he were still alive he’d be crying over the child. As it was, he was surprised to hear his voice reach an octave he didn’t know it could. “If I may ask, what is her name?” 

“Tora,” replied the Sin Lord promptly, “She has my glittering eyes, but unlike mine hers are as gold as a serpent’s. Well-suited for the Ouroboros, don’t you think?” 

“...the what, my lady?”  
“A force that recognises the place of both Sin and Virtue,” explained Lucifer, cutting off the other two Sin Lords, “Much like the Original Sin, the Ouroboros recognises that the world cannot exist without its corresponding forces. The reason that Leviathan is her mother is that two of the most powerful corresponding forces in the world to date are envy and love.” Leeteuk furrowed his eyebrows as he attempted to absorb the new information. 

“Humans have done a shitload o’ stuff in th’ name o’ our sins, but if we were to actually count ‘em all then Levi would take the proverbial cake,” Beezlebub added, much to the chagrin of the Lord of Pride; his eyes rolled at the Lord of Gluttony’s words. 

Leeteuk’s brows were still furrowed as he handed Tora back to her mother carefully. “I thought scripture stated that the Original Sin was humans choosing to partake in forbidden knowledge. Would that mean, then, that the Excommunicated are trying to play - trying to repeat history?” His throat burned and he choked on the word he tried to say. Absently he rubbed at the area of his throat where his larynx was, Beezlebub watching the movement knowingly. 

“As I said before, Belphegor’s reconnaissance has not yielded results. All it has told us so far is that the Excommunicated breached our wards and laid waste to a lot of the temple’s artifacts and offerings. They even destroyed the Original Sin,” he drawled. A thick, tense silence blanketed the four of them for a brief moment. 

“With the Original Sin destroyed, we cannot risk leaving ourselves open to a second attack. Not while we still recover from the first one,” Leviathan added, “Beezlebub will now explain why he inflicted the insatiable thirst upon you and your coven.” She gave the Lord of Gluttony a meaningful look. 

“Alright. So Luci explained how important Levi’s girl and the Original Sin actually is-” (“Really, Beezlebub?” moaned Lucifer) “-but th’ thing is we can’t keep ‘er here while the Excommunicated wait fer us t’ make our last mistake. It ain’t gonna end pretty, mostly ‘cause we ain’t got that type o’ power right now. 

“Long story short, it’ll be a beneficial arrangement: Levi gets peace of mind as a mum and a Sin Lord, and ye and yeh coven get somethin’ ye thought ye’d never miss.” A silence followed that was so pregnant it gave birth to two litters of five. Beezlebub’s words churned themselves in Leeteuk’s head long after said Sin Lord had spoken them. Much of the proposed arrangement was shrouded in cryptic mystery to the elder vampire, but he wasn’t completely confused; he knew exactly what he was being asked to do. 

“With all due respect, my lords and lady...why my coven?” he asked finally. 

“I told ye, four other covens tore ‘emselves apart ‘stead o’ askin’ why.” Beezlebub shrugged and flicked his caramel-dyed hair out of his eyes again. “Yer coven’s got a pretty rational leader at its head, and that’s sayin’ somethin’ ‘cause I don’t give out nice words all the time.” If Leeteuk had the capability to blush, he would have been. 

“Will you do it, Jungsu?” Leviathan spoke up. 

There was a brief pause, then Leeteuk straightened himself to his full height. “I will.”


	2. A Coven Near Divided

_“This is Jungsu, sorry I’m not able to answer my phone, please leave a name, message, and number and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”_

Heechul cursed in two forgotten languages as well as his own and pressed the red ‘End Call’ button on his phone’s screen. Six weeks ago Leeteuk had said he was going to Unity Temple. What was he doing, he thought bitterly, going sightseeing? It was dangerous enough in the world without adding on the extra dangers vampires had to put up with - mostly self-righteous Slayers and right-wing preachers from local parishes. If Leeteuk got himself killed or hurt on his return journey Heechul was going to find him and revive him so he could kill and hurt him himself. 

“Still nothing?” Donghae’s question caused the older vampire to turn his head toward the source of the sound. 

“Not yet,” Heechul replied, “If he’s gone and gotten himself hurt I’ll kill him, I swear…” He sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s just...no, there’s no excuses for this; I’m absolutely shit at this.” His shoulders hunched as he pocketed his phone. Donghae remained silent and watched as Heechul began to pace a little where he was. He’d never seen the older vampire look so lost and vulnerable before. He supposed it was because Heechul always had Leeteuk to ask questions of, but now that their coven leader was out of contact range, their second was as clueless as Donghae had felt the first ten years of his reborn life. The younger vampire stepped up next to Heechul and placed one of his hands on the older vampire’s shoulder. 

“He’ll be back.” Heechul stilled. “We all have faith in Leeteuk, and I know you do too. He has his reasons for-” Heechul’s phone began to ring in his pocket. He quickly pulled out the device and glowered at the screen as he answered the call. 

_“Before you chew me out, know that I couldn’t contact you until now.”_ Leeteuk’s voice sounded hoarse, as if he was recovering from an attack to his throat. The ire Heechul would’ve directed at the older vampire bubbled down to a simmer. 

“Are you alright, though?” was the first thing he managed to say. 

_“Yes, Heechul. I spent a bit longer at Unity Temple than I had originally planned, and I’m in need of using a longer route to come home.”_ As well as being slightly hoarse, Leeteuk’s voice was hushed like he was riding the quiet carriage of a train. Heechul strained his ears to try and hear what sounded like the clacking of train wheels over the track from the other end of the phone. 

“You aren’t being tracked, are you?”

_“No.”_ Leeteuk drew in a sharp breath. _“I have to go. I’ll tell you more when I see you.”_ The line was disconnected. 

Donghae’s grip became firmer. “He has his reasons. We need to trust him.” 

= = =

The train slowed to a halt at the next station, the garbled voice over the intercom announcing the name of the station making it sound like it was a new race of suspected primordial life form. Leeteuk waited until the train was mostly empty before standing and disembarking himself, his precious cargo strapped to his chest in a sling made of the bedsheets Leviathan had been resting in. Lucifer had explained that magic had been woven into the material, but exactly what that magic was hadn’t been elaborated on - the Lord of Pride had disappeared into a dark portal before he could say anything more.

“Idiot!” Beezlebub had wheezed out between bouts of laughter, “He’s tryin’ to be all tough an’-an’ he chokes on his own pride! I can’-” The Lord of Gluttony had collapsed by that point, blue in the face but still gasping out laughs. 

The memory carried Leeteuk to the large map plastered on a display board in the common area of the train station. The last time he remembered seeing a map, part of it had been chewed by a hungry goat and the writing had been smudged by the rain. This map was surprisingly functional, despite a thick crack in the protective plastic over the section of the map that showed rail lines into the station. 

“Are you lost, young man?” Leeteuk jumped a foot into the air, surprised he didn’t hear a heartbeat or footsteps coming up behind him. Now that he was refocused on the real world, he honed his hearing onto the lady’s heartbeat; she should really get it checked by a doctor. He completely ignored the lady’s “young” comment, though.

“Er, yeah...see, I’m looking to head to hospital; I have an appointment there for my daughter.” He hefted the weight in the sling to prove his point. The lady stooped to get a closer look at the sleeping infant, cooing at Tora while she slept entirely through the attention she was receiving. 

“She’s adorable…” The lady looked up and smiled at Leeteuk. “It’s so lovely to see fathers taking responsibility for their children.” There was an underlying bitterness to her voice that Leeteuk didn’t miss, and his chest panged in...pain? 

The lady shook her shoulders. “To get to the hospital, you need to turn left out the front of the station and head for the main street, then turn right onto the main street and follow it until you reach the hospital.” Her phone rang at that point, and she hurried away to answer it before Leeteuk could thank her. He looked down at Tora, who had slipped one of her tiny thumbs into her mouth to suck on as she slept. The pang from earlier was quickly replaced by a blooming warmth that spread through his chest, originating from the spot where Tora rested her head. 

“I’m not sure if Lord Beezlebub is meaning that you’re the thing we thought we’d never miss, but this feeling is really nice,” he murmured to himself, turning away from the map. 

= = =

Kibum’s hand moved quickly across the paper, the action unseen by the human eye. As it moved the pen it gripped left lines on the paper - some long and solid, some short and feathered, and some closer together than others to the create the illusion of shadows and depth. Leeteuk often told him that his gift of premonition was a gift from Lord Beezlebub and that while it was a great tool for communication between Kibum and the rest of the coven, revealing too much of the future was dangerous; Kibum learned that lesson awfully early on in his vampiric life. 

The last few lines of the picture were drawn, and it was finished. Kibum examined the drawing - he’d drawn a group of people standing in front of what appeared to be a window with the curtains pulled wide open. He studied the drawing carefully, curious as to what it could mean. Normally he could garner a vague idea of what his premonitions meant from his drawings, but to him this one was just a picture he’d seen then drawn.

“Kibum! Ration time!” 

Quickly hiding his drawing underneath a small pile of nearby books, Kibum stood from his desk and silently left his room to join the rest of the coven for the blood rationing. He hoped Leeteuk would return soon; he missed having someone he trusted to show his premonitions. 

= = =

“Stupid weather…” Leeteuk frowned from underneath his umbrella at nothing in particular. As someone who was drawn more to nocturnal activities, he’d forgotten just how much bite the sun actually had (it was an overcast day, but that didn’t mean his face still didn’t hurt). He had made it to the main street without incident, and now all he had to do was make his right and head for the hospital. 

Being outside during the day for the first time in nearly three hundred years had sent Leeteuk’s already sensitive senses into hyperdrive. He was acutely aware of the feel of the concrete under his shoes as he walked, he could smell the arid annoyance emanating from the people who hurried past him talking loudly on their phones, he could taste the slight humidity in the air as he breathed it in to try and blend in further, and he was grounded in all of this by the small weight curled against his chest, ensconced in her mother’s blankets and twitching in time with her dreams. His free hand moved on its own to place itself on her small back to hold her gently as he took the last few steps toward the large building marked by a first aid cross. 

Lowering the umbrella once he was in the shade of the front door, Leeteuk took his time putting it away in one of his coat’s pockets before stepping inside. The first thing that smacked him in the face was how clean the place smelled - high grade sanitiser underlaid with the just-been-vacuumed smell. The reception area was directly opposite the front door and was manned by a young man who looked done with the world as he scrolled through something on the computer in front of him. His nametag read ‘Leo’. 

“Excuse me?” Leo mad eno movement to acknowledge Leeteuk talking to him. “I’m looking for the...children’s ward, I think? I have an appointment at eleven-thirty.” It was then Leeteuk noticed the dark blue scrubs that adorned Leo’s body. 

“Elevator’s to your left, you want the third floor. Follow the animal arrows and talk to the receptionist there.” There was a flick of a dark-haired head toward the general direction of the elevators. 

“Thank you,” replied the vampire politely, offering a quick smile before heading to his left. 

“Wait.” Leeteuk paused. “Your appointment’s with Doctor Hakyeon. Just watch out for a gold insignia on a white background.” Leeteuk blinked at Leo, unsure of what to do with the information. Leo looked up from the computer and locked eyes with the vampire, a flash of amethyst crossing his orbs. 

Oh. Leo was a Caller. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Leeteuk as a dinging sound alerted him to an arriving elevator. 

= = =

Doctor Hakyeon was a tall, tanned man whose office was conjoined with a small examination room. Photo frames took up the space on the desk that the phone, computer and printer did not; spare paper was kept on shelves next to the desk’s drawers. The subjects of the photos ranged in gender and age, and...Leeteuk blinked twice...was that Leo in one of them? It was hard to recognise the man he’d met minutes ago in one of the photos; there was a smile on his face. 

“Please take a seat.” The doctor indicated two comfortable looking chairs next to the desk with a flat hand, palm raised up. Leeteuk moved into the office and took one of the mentioned seats, gently patting Tora’s back as she began to awaken. “This is just a check up, yes? To make sure the child is healthy?” 

“That’s correct. Give me a minute and I’ll wake her up.” The vampire began to coo softly at the infant. Tora yawned widely and opened her eyes, rubbing her tiny fists against her cheeks. Leeteuk had to pause. Leviathan was right; Tora’s eyes were bright gold, serpentine gold. They had the same sparkle as her mother’s though - a sparkle that, like her mother, would tell the world how she was feeling. 

“Oh wow, those are some beautiful eyes,” said Doctor Hakyeon. He helped Leeteuk to detangle Tora from the sling and sat her on his desk in front of him, using one hand to gently tickle her belly. Tora giggled in response to the stimuli. 

“Her mother’s eyes,” said Leeteuk. Tora made no fuss as Doctor Hakyeon completed his check up; the only time she began to grizzle was when he pressed the cold end of his stethoscope against her chest and back. 

Just as Doctor Hakyeon finished the examination Leo’s voice came through the phone’s receiver. _“Doctor, they’re here.”_ He sounded urgent. 

“Lucky for me I’ve just finished. Can Hongbin and Hyuk head them off?” 

_“Ken got to them first. This is going on the news for sure.”_

“Excellent. I’ll meet you as soon as I can.” Doctor Hakyeon pressed the ‘End’ button on the phone. “I’m glad to say that the girl is as healthy as can be, but we need to get the two of you out of here now.” He waited for Leeteuk to replace Tora in the sling, helping him to cover the infant’s head so that she could go back to sleep, then led the two of them out of his office and behind the reception desk. There was a blonde-haired man waiting for them when they got there. 

“I pinched this when they came through the theatres,” he said, producing a scrap of white cloth that was emblazoned with two crossed swords pointing downward as they split what appeared to be the infinity symbol. The insignia itself was gold. 

“Use the exit behind the kitchens, on the first floor.” Leeteuk watched as Doctor Hakyeon’s incisors sharpened. “We can keep them away from you.” 

“I feel a little silly for not recognising you as one of Lord Beezlebub’s kin,” Leeteuk said as a method of apology, bouncing Tora a little to help her go to sleep. 

Doctor Hakyeon waved a dismissive hand. “No harm done. Ravi here will take you to the kitchens, and may the Original Sin protect your soul.” The older vampire chewed on his lower lip. He didn’t want to be the one to tell Doctor Hakyeon that the Original Sin had actually been destroyed, so he settled for a polite nod at the doctor before following Ravi out from behind the desk and down a nearby corridor. 

= = = 

_“...eyewitnesses say members of the hospital staff calmly evacuated patients from the distressing scenes; one patient says that if it hadn’t been for the nursing staff her heart monitor would’ve exploded. Police are currently investigating the group behind the attack-”_

“I was watching that!” protested Eunhyuk loudly, throwing a sharp look toward Shindong. 

“Now we’re watching something else,” the older vampire retorted as he began to channel surf. Eunhyuk folded his arms and slumped in his seat, a pout pulling at his lips. 

“Let’s see if there are any of those Japanese game shows on now,” suggested Kangin, “Those are always funny.” Shindong nodded his assent and slowed his surfing until a colourful set appeared on the television screen. Two people stood next to each other wearing baskets on their heads, while four people stood atop a tall wall and threw large coloured balls down to them so they could try and catch them. 

“Hey Heechul, we’re watching people getting beaten by balls!” called Shindong in the general direction of the kitchen. Heechul appeared moments later, adjusting the tie of the long black coat he wore. He was dressed for going outside - coat plus thick pants plus walking shoes. 

“Where are you going?” Eunhyuk asked. 

“None of your business,” Heechul snapped back, “I have my phone.” He strode past the three and out of the house, closing the door behind him with a little more force than intended. 

The night air collected the hem of Heechul’s coat as he walked further away from the house. Stones shifted under his shoes, crunching against each other as the weight of his feet shifted in time with his steps. He needed to get out and be by himself for a while. He couldn’t tell the younger members of the coven about the convoluted feelings in his chest; the news report had spooked him back into worrying about Leeteuk and what he was up to. 

A crunching sound to his right had Heechul sprinting in the direction of the noise. With his inhuman speed he made it in record time, only to feel his ire grow rapidly. “Where the fuck have you been?!” 

“Let me inside and I’ll tell-” Heechul’s glare had Leeteuk sighing, stumbling over his feet. “What is it you want to hear, Heechul?” 

“Let’s start at Unity Temple, because you spent a bit longer there than you thought, according to your ONE phone call.” The older vampire sighed again. This was not the spot he wanted to have this conversation, not where either of them could be jumped and he wasn’t right for defending himself since the incident at the hospital. 

“I can’t tell you here.” He hefted the weight in the sling. “Let’s get inside the house wards.” Heechul didn’t argue the fact; he could see that Leeteuk was in no physical condition to defend himself, but as soon as they were safe within the borders of the house he stopped abruptly. 

“Now talk,” he demanded. 

“Fine.” Leeteuk felt Tora stirring against his chest. “The Original Sin has been destroyed by a group of people who call themselves the Excommunicated, and before you ask I don’t know what happened to the Cardinal Crystals.” Heechul’s eyes widened, one hand clapping over his open mouth as he stumbled back three paces in his attempt to process what he had been told. 

“Is that why you stayed so long?” he finally asked. 

“Partly. Lady Leviathan tasked me with looking after something extremely valuable.” Leeteuk carefully shifted the sling so Heechul could see Tora. She yawned and gripped the fabric of the sling in a tight grip for her infant hands. The elder vampire could’ve cooed at the action. 

Heechul, however, thought differently, his ire level climbing again. “What the fuck is that?” 

“This is Tora, Lady Leviathan’s daughter.” Leeteuk began to head toward the house, Heechul in hot pursuit. 

“You can’t bring it inside.”

“Watch me.”

“It’s a human! We’re going to eat it for a snack!”

“She, not it.” 

“Are you even listening to me?!” Both vampires entered the house and were greeted by the rest of the coven standing in the living room. “Bringing this thing into our home is going to put it and the rest of us in trouble!”

“I don’t think you’re listening to me,” Leeteuk said evenly, grateful there were witnesses, “The Original Sin is destroyed, and at this point I have no idea what happened to the Cardinal Crystals. The Sin Lords are not at full strength after the Excommunicated attack, so me agreeing to raise Tora for Lady Leviathan is - as Lord Beezlebub put it - part of a beneficial arrangement.” The coven plunged into a tense silence. Donghae shuffled toward Leeteuk to get a closer look at Tora, lifting a single finger and pointing it toward the child. In her sleep, Tora grabbed at the appendage and held it tightly. Donghae smiled at the action. 

“I honestly couldn’t give a flying fuck if it was some human pet you’ve decided to raise for a donor!” Heechul’s lid had officially flipped. “In case you’ve forgotten, we’re all struggling through an insatiable thirst at the moment! Having that thing here will turn us all against each other!” Siwon, Kangin, Yesung and Shindong murmured to each other in agreeance with Heechul’s words. “You are going to split us and make it easier for - what the fuck is that fucking noise?!” Every vampire clamped their hands over their ears as soon as the shrill wailing shattered the air. Leeteuk snapped his head down to Tora, whose face was red and scrunched and her gummy mouth was open wide. Instinctively, he and Donghae began to make cooing noises - Leeteuk began to rock his body - and shushing noises. The coven watched as the infant’s shrill wails slowly died down to snuffling and occasional hiccuping. 

“It has to go,” Heechul stated firmly. 

“Then you can go to Unity Temple and explain your thoughts to Lady Leviathan,” Leeteuk shot back, his attention on the quieting infant. He quickly glanced up at the clock on the wall - six thirty-nine AM. Sunrise would be soon. 

“Leeteuk?” The coven leader tore his eyes from Tora (Donghae was pulling faces and making her smile) and looked at Kyuhyun. “You said this was part of a beneficial arrangement. What were its terms?” Tora’s snuffling finally quietened again - she’d fallen asleep for the nth time. Donghae carefully wrested his finger from the infant’s grasp. 

“Lord Beezlebub said that while Lady Leviathan gained peace of mind as a mother and a Sin Lord, we as a coven were to gain something we thought we’d never miss.” The silence this time was thick with thought, split only by Heechul’s deep breaths as he tried to calm himself. Sungmin crept next to Donghae, observing Tora as she slept in the sling. 

Kibum’s eyes widened and he stared at Leeteuk incredulously. He thought back to his drawing - his premonition, still hidden away in his room. Briefly checking the clock, he walked to the living room window and studied the curtains for only a moment before yanking them open. 

The reaction was instantaneous. “What the -”

“Kibum!” 

“What’d you do that for?!” 

Leeteuk ignored the indignant cries in favour of staring at the scene before him. Morning sunlight streamed in through the window, which highlighted two things to the coven leader: 

1) the windows were absolutely filthy, inside and out, and  
2) nobody was going up in smoke.

“Everyone stop moving.” The command rippled through the coven like falling dominoes, and everyone looked over at him. “Kibum, did you have a premonition before I came back?” Kibum nodded, a determined expression on his face. He swept his arm around at the current situation, indicating that this was what he saw. Leeteuk looked from him to every single member of the coven, meeting everyone’s eyes in turn. The sunlight continued to shine through the dirty window, growing stronger the higher the sun rose. 

“Something we thought we’d never miss…” murmured Sungmin, looking back at Tora. “What does it mean, and what does it have to do with you?” No one answered his question straight away. Even Kibum remained motionless as he thought about the question. 

“Whatever the answer, standing in sunlight without smoking is one part of the picture. We can figure out the rest in time,” Heechul exhaled, turning his whole body to face Leeteuk. “It...she, sorry...can stay, I suppose. I overreacted to the whole situation.” The coven leader smiled at him, accepting the apology that refused to leave his mouth, then looked down at the infant. 

“We can work out what Lord Beezlebub has gifted us in time. For now, we’ve got a new family member to accommodate,” he declared. 

= = =

“By the way, Beezlebub,” said Lucifer as he turned a page in the book he’d been reading, “what exactly did you gift Jungsu’s coven with?” The Lord of Gluttony simply smiled at the Lord of Pride and continued to chew on his gum. Lucifer narrowed his eyes. 

“Why’d ye wanna know?” asked Beezlebub finally. 

“Do enlighten me, Father of Vampires.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on the Lord of Gluttony, but he popped his gum and got comfortable next to Lucifer. 

“Remember how I said that four other covens tore ‘emselves apart before I got t’ Jungsu’s?” The Lord of Pride nodded. “Let’s say that I...chose t’ extend their rationality.” 

“You didn’t…” 

Beezlebub’s smile grew wider. “I gave ‘em back their humanity.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say hello to VIXX! To be honest, they were the first group that came to my head as I was writing this chapter.


End file.
